Amidst the Madness
by Seleen
Summary: When the Dark Lord hands Draco the object of his obsession, will he make her or break her? Very Dark, short story. M for a reason.


They dragged her in, bound in chains. He watched passively as she scrambled to her feet and faced his master, whom so many cowered before, strong and proud; unflinching. She looked down her pert nose at the Dark Lord, honey eyes narrowed.

"Hermione Granger." He hissed, "What a lovely surprise."

"Voldemort." She spat. The single word held all her hatred for his master.

"Now, now. I know you were raised by barbaric muggles, but surely you have _some _manners?" The Dark Lord's tone was amused, but his eyes flashed dangerously. Irritated, no doubt, at her lack of respect and fear.

"Pretty speech, coming from a half-blood." She said, looking him dead in the eye. Draco almost admired her courage. Or was it stupidity?

"Draco, please release our guest from her shackles." Draco nodded sharply. Walking up to Granger, he tapped the thick metal bands that covered her wrists with his wand. He couldn't bring himself to look at her, instead staring at the floor, or the wall above her head. He'd never noticed how small she was before.

"Malfoy!" She snarled, "You foul, slimy ferret! Harry was right about you. And all that time…" She shook her head, "I thought you were better. I thought you could change. Argument after argument, I defended you! Fought with my two best friends over you, and I was wrong. You disgust me!"

Her hand struck out, hitting him hard across the left check. The Dark Lord's laughter echoed through out the room. "Put her in her place, Draco!"

His temper spiked. He had never liked being hit, but it had taken him years to start actually doing something about it. "_Crucio!_"

She fell to the ground, head smacking hard against the cold stone. But she didn't make a single sound as her body convulsed and she experienced what he knew all too well to be agonizing pain, the worst hurt imaginable. Her eyes were squeezed shut and she bit down hard on her lip, holding back her tortured screams. He saw red. Why the hell wasn't she screaming? Burning, stabbing pain was coursing through her; he knew this from having experienced the effects of the Cruciatus himself. He lifted the curse, kicking her hard in the stomach. All he got was a small gasp and a harsh glare.

"Fucking mudblood…" He drawled, staring down at her. He'd always had a twisted sort of obsession for the girl. She was pretty, with her chocolate curls and striking honey-colored eyes. But filthy, a foul mudblood. A thief of the magic that was his by blood.

"Enough, Draco." The Dark Lord said, as Nagini slithered up his arm and wrapped herself around his shoulders. She hissed and the Dark Lord hissed back, conversing with his most trusted ally. Neither Draco, nor Hermione, who was struggling to her feet, knew what they spoke of.

"My friend Nagini had proposed a wonderful idea." Hermione paled. She hated that damn snake. Any idea it had would not bode well for her. "Miss Granger clearly harbors a great deal of hatred for you, young Malfoy. And you seem to enjoy harming her, if she angers you enough. Take her, she is yours. I want her broken!" He all but screamed the last part, breaking his façade of indifference.

Draco smirked darkly, "It will be done, My Lord." Years of watching Hermione Granger rise to power as the hope of the light, of being beaten for being bested by a mudblood in school, and of being thwarted time and time again, had prepared him for this moment. He had been hoping for this. He may have enjoyed watching her be broken and humiliated by all the Death Eaters, but this? This would bring him the ultimate satisfaction. This would be personal.

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><p>They walked through the halls of Malfoy Manor in silence. She was lagging behind. He hated walking slow. He spun, grabbing her by the hair and throwing her in front of him.<p>

"Speed up Granger, I don't have all day." She rubbed the back of her head, smiling coldly.

"What? Children to torture? Innocent people to murder?" His hand lashed out, not unlike the way her hand had earlier. The blow sent her stumbling back and split her lip. She spat blood-streaked saliva at him. "Bastard."

He ignored this; they needed to get a move on. Even in the midst of this madness, his parents wanted to have dinner like a normal family. Or at least, his mother did. His father was another story. He started waking again, smirking at her attempts to find an escape. He could see her taking it all in and storing it for further examination. "Granger, you daft bint! You're not going to find an escape, so stop analyzing every detail of my home. Even if you could get outside, you need to the approval of a Malfoy to enter or leave the Manor."

"And I'm never going to get that. Shit. No wonder we couldn't get in here." Her shoulders slumped and she lapsed back into silence. He liked seeing her defeated and silent, but this was much too soon. He hadn't even had any fun with her yet.

"Awe Granger, no need to look so down. The foods great here. And you'll probably get more action here then you have in your entire life."

Her eyes widened and for the first time since her actual arrival, she looked scared. "You're sick, Malfoy."

"I am also impatient. Let's go." He shoved her to make her walk faster, before taking the lead.

She kept pace with him, though it was clearly a struggle. She was clutching her side where he had kicked her. It brought a sadistic smile to his face. There were dark circles under her eyes and she was gaunt and thin. He wondered what she'd been doing all this time.

Oh sure, he had heard all about her successful raids and courage in battle. She was the new source of hope for the light since Potter's injury during the Battle of Hogwarts. So why was high ranking member of the Order of the Phoenix so emaciated. Didn't they take care of their own?

"Oi, Granger? Why so thin? Doesn't your bloody Order feed you?" He questioned, quickening his pace just to screw with her.

"Of course they do." She snapped, practically jogging to keep up with him. Her fault, for having such damn short legs. "However, your bloody lord has orphaned so many children in the past two years, there isn't much food to go around. And I feel guilty not sharing my rations."

He snorted and rolled his eyes. Typical Granger.

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><p>When they finally reached his bedroom, he was so frustrated with Gryffindor's Princess Know-It-All that he all but threw her into the room after whispering his password.<p>

She took in her surroundings and he saw her roll her eyes, a faint smile on her chapped lips.

"Something amusing you?" He asked, causing Hermione's smile to widen.

"Your room, actually. It's exactly the way I thought it would be. Such a cliché." He grinned, oh sweet Salazar, what an opening.

"Been thinking of my room, have you? Excited to finally be here?" She flushed and he chuckled, she shouldn't have mocked his color scheme. He noticed her hair was filthy and matter, as were the tattered clothes she wore. He sneered at her, "Go take a shower. It's foul enough having your mudblood self present in my room, I don't need you bringing filth from the outdoors in here too."

"Its blood, Malfoy. Not dirt." She said, walking towards the bathroom.

"Even worse. Now I have your filthy blood on my floor." He told her, "What were you expecting? A healer? I'd rather let you suffer. My sympathy? You deserve none."

"Funny. You know, even if you don't deserve it, you have my sympathy." She slammed the door in his face.

"Too bad I don't need it, Granger!" He shouted after her. The sound of a bath being filled was the only reply he received. "Arie!"

His favorite House Elf appeared with a loud crack and a sweeping bow. Large violet eyes stared up at him, eager to serve. "Master is calling Arie! Master be needing something? Tea? Fire Whiskey? Master's fire is out. Arie fixes it for her good master!"

"Arie! Calm yourself." She immediately stopped talking and looked up at him. "Bring a dinner tray up. Something light. Green sleeping robes for my guest. Oh, and have my late night tea and Fire Whiskey ready for me upon my return." He smiled wickedly; Granger was going to love sleeping in a Slthyerin-themed room while wearing Slytherin-themed nightclothes. A crack signaled Aries exit from the bedroom, followed almost simultaneously but the sound of her reappearing the bathroom-and Granger's loud, piercing scream.

"Miss! Wait! I is needing to measure you!" Arie wailed as Granger burst through the bathroom door, wrapped in a towel. A green one, at that. Draco busted up laughing. The sight of Granger, with only a towel on and shampoo still in her hair, being chased by the sobbing House Elf, was just too much.

"You think this is funny, Malfoy? You know I don't approve of the use of House Elves for labor!" She screeched.

"Christ, Woman! Just let the damn elf measure you so you'll have actual clothing to wear."

"You're insufferable. I am a House Elf Rights activist!" She was shaking with rage and water was dripping down to pool at her feet.

"Yes, and I'm a pureblood. We use House Elves. Get over it and let her do her job." He stalked out, ignoring her shouts of protest.

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><p><strong>Okay, so this will be a fairly short story, just 4-8 chapters long. It will be dark, let me warn you now. Rated M for a reason people. For those of you who read my story 'Stop The Whole World', I'll be updating that ASAP, but I have a serious case of writers block and this was just sitting in my notebook. All I had to do was type it and tweak it a bit. Anyway, thanks for reading, please review and tell me what you think! <strong>


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